The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has written to Ghanaian President, John Dramani Mahama to urge him to fulfill his promise to take action against his top aide who assaulted a journalist last year.
Following the incident, the MFWA on October 14 2015, mobilized 155 journalists from over 40 media organisations across Ghana to petition the president to sanction Mr. Stan Dogbe, who is a senior officer at the Presidency.
In a letter dated November 10, 2015, Secretary to the president, Mr. Kwesi Quartey, said the president had taken note of the concerns raised in the petition, and promised that “due attention would be paid to the matter in the interest of protecting the reputation of the Presidency.”
As a follow-up, the MFWA today (February 5, 2016), wrote to remind the president that it has been six months since Mr. Dogbe assaulted the journalist, four months since he (the president) was petitioned and almost three months since he promised to take action on the matter.
The letter therefore called on the president to take the promised action in order to dispel growing public feeling that his assurance is a mere platitude rather that a genuine expression of intent to sanction Mr. Dogbe.
The letter, which had all the 155 original petitioners attached as signatories, asked President Mahama to fulfill his promise as a way of demonstrating “support for press freedom” and “commitment to fighting impunity for crimes against journalists.”
Read a copy of the Letter to President John Mahama here.